The Recruiting Guy

Tennessee pair ready to go uptempo with Hogs

Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson, second from right, talks to his assistant coaches from his bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Utah Valley on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas defeated Utah Valley 79-46. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson, second from right, talks to his assistant coaches from his bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Utah Valley on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas defeated Utah Valley 79-46. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

LAS VEGAS -- Arkansas' men's basketball coaches are trying to land two members of Team Thad, a Memphis-based team that played in the Adidas FAB 48 tournament last week.

Forward Micah Thomas has several family members living in Little Rock, and they're urging him to visit Arkansas.

"Half my family lives there," Thomas said. "My mom's parents, cousins and aunts."

Thomas, 6-7, 170 pounds, attended Memphis Briarcrest Christian as a junior and will play his senior year at Huntington Prep in West Virginia. He has approximately 14 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Memphis, Baylor and Iowa State.

He and Arkansas assistant coach T.J. Cleveland are communicating.

"I keep in touch with Arkansas pretty much. They text me all the time," Thomas said. "So we have a good connection."

Thomas gave a rundown on what he likes about Arkansas.

"Defense, the way they play and rebound, and the offensive tempo," he said.

He said he often hears from his family in the Natural State about the Hogs.

"They always want me to come down there," Thomas said. "They push me. I'm close to my family. I can try and visit next year."

Thomas also said he cherishes staying in touch with his family.

"Family is always going to be there for you, no matter what," Thomas said. "I like keeping in contact with my family at all times."

Highly recruited point guard Jaylen Fisher said he credits Cleveland for much of his interest in the Hogs.

"That's my guy. We're pretty cool," Fisher said. "He always keeps it real with me. I talk to Coach Cleveland like every other day. He always checks up on me through the good and the bad. I really appreciate that."

Fisher, 6-2, 185 pounds, of Arlington (Tenn.) Bolton, has more than 20 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, Baylor, Florida and Southern Cal. ESPN rates him the No. 8 point guard and No. 41 prospect in the nation.

Fisher, who plans to narrow his list of schools to eight after July, said his love of playing defense is what also attracts him to the Razorbacks. He likes going full speed on the court and he believes playing for Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson and Cleveland would be a good fit.

"I know they expect that every game," Fisher said. "I know with them you have to have that dog mindset and be out there and get ready to eat."

Vicious attacker

Arkansas' men's basketball program hadn't extended a scholarship offer to guard Josh Parrish before the recent live recruiting period that started Wednesday and ended Sunday, but that changed Monday.

Parrish, who played for Urban DFW Elite in the Adidas Uprising Summer Championships at Las Vegas, talked to Razorbacks assistant coach Matt Zimmerman on Monday afternoon and was informed the Hogs were offering him a scholarship.

"I'm really interested," Parrish said. "I like their style of play. They like to get up and down the court. I feel like that's a style I can fit in."

He said he and Zimmerman discussed setting up an official visit for a football weekend this fall.

"Me and Coach Zimmerman have been building a close relationship," Parrish said. "We've been talking a lot these past few weeks. He's kind of funny. He has a little southern accent going so that's pretty funny, but he's a good guy overall ."

Parrish, 6-5, 200, of Arlington (Texas) Juan Seguin, also has scholarship offers from SMU, Fresno State and Virginia Commonwealth. He has a 3.6 grade-point average and planning to study business financing in college.

He has an aggressive mentality on the court.

"I just like to get up and down the floor and attack the goal viciously, just trying to set up my teammates," Parrish said.

Ready to visit

Arkansas extended a scholarship offer to small forward DeAndre Hunter about two weeks ago, and he's planning to make a trip to Fayetteville in the near future.

"Yeah, I probably will," said Hunter, who played for Philly Pride in the Adidas FAB 48 tournament in Las Vegas last week. "Probably next month or I will in a couple of months for sure."

Hunter, 6-7, 195, of Philadelphia Friend's Central School, has more than 15 scholarship offers from schools like Penn State, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, Temple, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Georgia Tech.

"I saw them play a couple of times on TV and they beat Kentucky, so I'm really interested," Hunter said of the Hogs, who last defeated the Wildcats in 2014. "It's a good program."

Associate head coach Melvin Watkins is his lead recruiter at Arkansas.

"He texts me every day and calls me a lot," Hunter said. "He's stays in touch frequently, and he shows he's really interested."

Hunter, who's rated the No. 22 small forward in the nation according to ESPN, is leaning towards majoring in communication.

All hail Malik

Arkansas men's basketball Coach Mike Anderson and all three of his assistants were on hand to watch Bentonville guard Malik Monk and the Arkansas Wings Elite defeat Mac Irvin Fire of Chicago 84-78 in the finals of the Chris Paul's The 8 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Monk, 6-4, 190, made six three-pointers and scored 34 points. North Carolina Coach Roy Williams and Kentucky Coach John Calipari were also in attendance.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 07/28/2015

Upcoming Events